Coronavirus pandemic fight has cost taxpayers £124bn in just three-and-half months

Ministers issue 11 orders to override civil service warnings that hasty spending breached normal rules, it is revealed

The fightback against the coronavirus pandemic cost taxpayers a staggering £124bn in little over three months, it is revealed today – with the bill set to rise far higher.

Ministers threw the “unprecedented” sum at bailing out stricken businesses, preventing the NHS from being overwhelmed, boosting benefits and other measures after the pandemic struck.

No fewer than 11 orders were issued by ministers to override civil service warnings that the spending breached rules on “propriety, value for money or feasibility”.

The National Audit Office does not identify the ministers who issued the directions, or the areas of departmental spending they covered, in the period between 31 January and 15 May.

However, there has been criticism that contracts worth an estimated £1bn have been handed out to private companies without offering other firms the chance to bid for the work.

Deals to administer Covid-19 tests, provide food parcels and personal protective equipment (PPE) were among those fast-tracked, after standard rules were suspended.

The £124.3bn bill does not cover any spending by the governments in Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast, or by local authorities where extra funding was not received from Whitehall.

No cost is provided for the expansion of testing for the virus to key workers and now the wider population, by creating a network of laboratories and sites.

And spending on the troubled NHS smartphone app, to help trace new infections – now delayed, amid fresh security fears – was only £6m, by the NAO’s cut-off debate.

Crucially, with the economy still in the deep freeze and social distance restrictions here to stay for now, spending is certain to mushroom further in the months to come. A £300bn budget black hole is expected.

Gareth Davies, the watchdog’s head, said: “The scale and nature of the Covid-19 pandemic and government’s response is unprecedented in recent history.”

He said its report would be followed by further reports “to parliament and the public on how the money has been spent and the lessons learned.”

Among the biggest spending pots, after more than 500 announcements, were:

* £82.2bn on support for businesses, including the estimated £50bn bill for furloughing staff and on other grants and loans.

* £19.5bn on higher benefits and sick pay and on other support for vulnerable people.

* £15.8bn on other public services, including for local government services, education and children's services.

* £6.6bn on health and social care, covering new hospitals and equipment, services and vaccine development.

The government has yet to say how it will settle the bill, although Boris Johnson has insisted he does not want a repeat of the austerity of the Cameron-Osborne years.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is believed to favour allowing the UK’s debt mountain to soar as preferable to the alternatives of tax hikes or spending cuts.